F-111 life

[spectreflyer 0]

How long will an F-111 canopy last (give a good flare) considering that it is taken well care of?
Trying to decide between ZP and F-111 for a demo canopy.

[Luv2Fall 0]

I have a used PD280 F111 with over 400 jumps on it, the flare is a little weak.........but still useable.

[councilman24 36]

We usually considered F-111 type fabric (F-111 is no longer made) to be pretty ragged out at 600 to 700 jumps. It was the rare canopy that was being used over a 1000 jumps. It will start changing right away and maybe have a noticable decrease in performance in a few hundred jumps. Remember, in modern pre ZP main canopies 170 was about the smallest made and 220 was the common size for moderately sized men.

While I was late to the ZP band wagon, these days there aren't real good reasons not to fly ZP. No matter what kind of performance you want, it will be better and last longer with ZP fabric.

For awhile after a badly broken leg I used big non ZP canopies. I had a Raven IV and then a Manta (288 sqft). When I couldn run again I bought a Sabre 190. I had both rigs but when I wanted a guarenteed soft landing I took the Sabre.

There are some specialty application where non ZP may be better. And price may be a factor. But, its hard to recommend a non ZP main to anybody these days. Even for a demo canopy when you want to sink it in I believe a suitably designed and sized ZP will give you a wider range of possibilities.

Terry

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[dterrick 0]

Heya Lane!

By the look of your username and profile you already own the 'perfect' demo canopy in a Spectre.

Without more detail about what you are looking for in terms of performance and wingloading it's going to be really hard for anyone to offer constuctive suggestions. For example, you could take a Jalbert Parafoil accuracy canopy and demo the pitcher's mound on a regular basis (as long as your body would take the landings, that is) - that's F-111 ... or you could take a Spectre at 1:1 or thereabouts and do damn near anything with it except fly it straight down.

If it's strictly a demo canopy you;re looking for, I doubt you'll wear out an F-111 main before you exhaust your demo supply. However, there is absolutely no questioning that after a few hundred jumps an F-111 will not be nearly as crisp as it was when new. I fly F-111 at just over 1:1 with many hundreds of jumps and it likes to thump me down at anything less than full drive.

If finances are a consideration, a high quality used ZP with new lines is likely to serve you better than new F-111.

-Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[headoverheels 291]

I put 900 jumps on my Raven3. I could really tell a change in the flight characteristics the last year, when I did 300 jumps. Some of the change may have been line lengths/trim changing. I was loading it at about 0.75, so I could tolerate a lot of porosity before landings would have become more difficult.

[riggergreg 0]

There are a lot of variables in how determining the life of any canopy.Weather conditions(sunlight exposure) Ground conditions(grass, dirt, sand, salt water,such as coastal florida). Wing loading( the weight of the jumper vs canopy size).Packing conditions(Inside-airconditioned, outside-shaded vs nonshaded) all these variables will alter the life span of parachute material. I have jumped F-111 parachutes with over 2000 jumps, that was used and stored under ideal situations. I have also seen parachutes that were trash before 1000 jumps.

By the way, F-111 is still used in many canopies. Most reserves are F-111.

[Unstable 8]

The life of an F-111 canopy depends on all the factors listed above, and i think that the methods used in packing can make a big difference also.
My F-111 PD193 has around 600 jumps on it, and i've felt the performance decrease over the last 100 or so. On no wind days, it's difficult not to thump in, even on a .9 wingloading.

=========Shaun ==========

[spectreflyer 0]

Yes, I currently and will most likely always jump a Spectre! I am considering a larger Spectre for a demo canopy. I am looking at carrying an American flag and jumping into mostly level one areas. I got a Spectre 230 demo from PD and it was great, except it took forever to open, as PD had told me that the larger the Spectre the longer it would take to open.